- Long before the U.S. News rankings: “Enduring Hierarchies in American Legal Education” [Olufunmilayo Arewa, Andrew Morriss, William Henderson, Indiana Law Journal/SSRN]
- So law schools tilt way left. What if anything can be done about it? [George Dent (Case Western), SSRN]
- Judge tosses defamation suit filed by Thomas Cooley Law School against critics [Lansing State Journal, Caron/TaxProf]
- And playing the race card to do it: “Law Profs Oppose Elimination of Tenure as an Accreditation Requirement” [Caron]
- Law schools as pork barrel: gubernatorial candidate promises to launch a new one in defiance of economic logic [Elie Mystal at Above the Law; Bowie State U., Maryland]
- Heather Mac Donald: Academic Advisory Council installed by Judge Scheindlin in NYPD case inspires little confidence [NY Post]
- Judge Easterbrook: “The one-size-fits-all approach has been the bane of legal education” [Indiana Lawyer re: opening of new Indiana Tech law school]
- Herculean flow-chart condensation of Paul Campos book Don’t Go to Law School (Unless) [Connecticut attorney Samuel Browning, Law School Tuition Bubble]
Patent and class action panel
I moderated a panel at Cato’s annual Constitution Day September 17 with Mark Moller of DePaul speaking on the Supreme Court’s class action jurisprudence last term, and David Olson of Boston College and Gregory Dolin of University of Baltimore speaking on the life-science patent cases. I also warned viewers (this part is at the beginning) to use only the Twitter hashtags #CatoCD2013 or #CatoCD13 to comment, because the hashtag #CatoCD without numbers is already in use as #CatOCD to post pictures of cats with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. If the embedded version doesn’t work, you can watch here.
New Supreme Court term
Previewed by Daniel Fisher at Forbes and, in a Constitution Day video, by a Cato panel including Howard Bashman, Tom Goldstein and Marcia Coyle, moderated by Ilya Shapiro. Oral arguments begin today. More: an Ilya Shapiro preview for the Daily Beast.
October 7 roundup
- More regulation of online speech: what could go wrong? “‘Eraser’ law gives California teens the right to delete online posts” [ABA Journal, Eric Goldman, Scott Greenfield]
- Gov. Brown signs bill to grant law licenses in California to illegal immigrants [Reuters]
- “Court: website alleging police corruption shouldn’t have been shut down” [Ars Technica; Lafayette, Louisiana]
- License to speak: Eugene Volokh and Cato Institute challenge licensing of DC tour guides;
- Thanks to Keith Lee at Associates Mind for including us in list of recommended law sites;
- St. Paul disparate-impact housing controversy: “How Mischievous Obama Administration Officials Scuttled An Important Supreme Court Case” [Trevor Burrus, see also]
- Great circle of tax-funded life: public sector lobbying expenditures [Washington state via Tyler Cowen]
Connecticut: you can’t sue opposing lawyer for fraud
On the other hand, it seems to be open season on opponents in the Nutmeg State: lawyers will continue to enjoy “absolute immunity” from being sued by their opponents on charges of fraud. “Donna Simms [client of the lawyers in question] said she wasn’t excited about the decision because she’s been involved in court proceedings with her ex-husband for three decades and there may be more legal fights.” [Insurance Journal]
California court: malicious prosecution suit can go forward
It’s against a law firm for allegedly wrongly naming a car dealership as a defendant in an asbestos case. The (unpublished) decision, denying a SLAPP-law motion, is here (Tulare SAG, Inc. v. Keller, Fishback, and Jackson LLP). Note: Link is a document download, not a page, and may not work for all browsers or users.
NAAG pushes FDA regulation of e-cigarettes
Funny thing, though: its state members aren’t exactly financially impartial about the matter. [Daniel Fisher, Forbes]
Andrew Grossman on City of Arlington
In this video from Cato’s Constitution Day, the Baker & Hostetler attorney (and friend of this site) discusses the Supreme Court’s recent decision according deference to agencies’ determinations of their own jurisdiction. The case, which split the conservative justices, was one of the rare defeats for a Cato Institute amicus position last term.
Related: Michael Greve, John Yoo and Mike Rappaport on rethinking administrative law and the era of deference.
Judges: reopen BP settlement
A big win for the oil company before a Fifth Circuit panel, fighting what it says is systematic large-scale fraud in the Gulf Coast spill economic-damage settlement. [Bloomberg News, earlier here, here, etc.]
Alex Beam on Alan Dershowitz
The columnist has a priceless anecdote of a fact-checking query mistakenly left in a pre-publication book version sent out by Prof. Dershowitz’s publisher; also, why those who complain about being called celebrity lawyers should probably not call attention to lists of the famous people they’ve represented. [Boston Globe]